MMMmmm Good

Now that things have once again fallen into routine, I thought it a good time to update on the general life in Rabat, Morocco. From the daily meals to the market experience, life here is drastically different from that in the States and far less Westernized than I had expected.

Food. The first questions I have received from most people regards the food. What do we eat? When do we eat? How do we eat? Usually I am tempted to respond as such – I eat food at meal times. But of course that does nothing to satiate your curiousity, does it? The typical Moroccan family eats 3 – 5 times a day (except Ramadan which I will address at in later post). This typical family also eats around a table in the living room or family room from a large common bowl. Islamic tradition dictates the use of the right hand only when dipping into the common bowl or platter. Using bread as a utensil, one dips into the main dish, commonly called Tagine (after the large clay conical ‘crock pot’ used to cook the food). Usually, tagine is made with chicken or veal and potatoes. This meal is the ‘typical Moroccan meal.’ Throughout this past description, I emphasize the words ‘typical’ because as most of you know, ‘typical’ doesn’t typically apply. In my home, dinner is usually far lighter than Tagine with familiar meals as pasta and sauce, flavored rice, or meatballs (my favorite).

My day is typically as follows. Every morning, my mother wakes with me to fix breakfast (against my insistance that she rest) which consists of coffee and milk and some bread item—a roll, some french bread, or Hasha (a biscuit very similar to corn bread, only better!) My walk to the center where we have our classes takes about five minutes, and I go every morning with one of my fellow students who lives with the family downstairs. From 8:30 – 12:00, I have my Fus’ha class (Modern Standard Arabic). We have only 5 students in my class, and our teacher does not speak English – only Arabic and French. Luckily, two of the girls in my class speak French and aid in translation from time to time. Although I am starting to pick up on some French, it is quite difficult to actively learn three languages at one time. In general, my Fus’ha is proficient enough to get the point across with my teacher (thanks to my lovely summer class with Usteth Nasser). After Arabic, we have lunch at the center, which is cooked by the most wonderful of people, Brahim. He is truly a great cook. We usually have Tagine or some other equally delicious meal. After lunch, we have our seminar. The topic of this changes daily, but the two generic types are Cultural Studies and Field Study Techniques. We have FSS once a week and the other days are CSS. We have just completed the unit on Women and Religion and are moving on to Cultural Representation in Morocco. Usually, we finish class around 3 or 4. The center, where I find my wireless, is open until 6, so I typically stay there until I finish up my emails. Then, it’s all up to me what I do. Today (Thursday) I went to Marjane with my American Moroccan sister and my friend Emily. This expanse of Westernization is very much like a super Walmart combined with a mini-mall. Truly an experience. At home, I study or read until dinner around 9:30pm. Pretty soon after we eat, it is typically time for sleep.

The late dinners derive from the tradition for stores and workplaces to close for up to 2 hours during lunch to allow for a large meal and ‘siesta’ (pardon the cultural transfer). Even though this traditional no longer continues, the Moroccan people as a whole have yet to adjust and continue to dine quite late comparatively.

For now, I will leave this post, but I will post again soon about Ramadan, as I know you are all wondering how that works in a country that is 99.9% muslim.